by Brian Mortensen, Courtesy of the Rogue River Press
Rogue River Mayor Wayne Stuart might have surprised a few people just two minutes into the Thursday, Aug. 26 Rogue River City Council meeting when he stepped away from his dias.
“What I’d like to do right now is come down and I’d like to congratulate Ryan,” he said, approaching Ryan Nolan. “He’s been selected as our new city administrator.”
Nolan, who previously worked as a planner for the cities of Cave Junction and Grants Pass, had worked as a planner under contract with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments since 2019.
Nolan is the choice to succeed Mark Reagles, retiring at the end of the month. Reagles had been city administrator since May 1, 2000, after serving for nearly six years as the city’s public works director.
“To now be working for the city of Rogue River and to join the team here so we can help the city staff be successful in moving forward and help the staff perform the duties that we need to for the citizens of Rogue River, it’ll be my honor to try to carry forward and earn your trust and to do what I can to make the city of Rogue River continue on a good path as Mark has (done) for quite a while now,” Nolan said. “Again, I’m grateful, thankful and appreciate what you’ve offered me.”
Reagles, who left the meeting shortly after the announcement with his wife Karla, said that Nolan’s first day in his new position will be Monday, Sept.19 and that Nolan was his personal choice to succeed him.
“Ryan was my choice all along, and I was hoping the council felt how I felt about Ryan and his integrity, his ethics, what we’ve seen him do in his years with Rogue Valley Council of Governments and then my short interaction with him in Cave Junction,” he said. “I felt that he would be the perfect fit for this community, the direction I’ve seen this community going in the 28 years I’ve been a part of it. I was super happy to see that the council felt the same.”
Reagles said that Nolan had passed the muster of the panel of city managers the city had invited to judge the candidates.
“Ryan came out on top. He was No. 1 through the entire process,” he said. “Congratulations to him for what he’s done in his life up to this point. I look forward to him leading Rogue River for 28 years.”
Dick Converse, who retired as the principal land use planner for RVCOG in 2019, was present as Jackson County Commissioner Colleen Roberts congratulated city officials on their choice.
“I worked with him in Cave Junction, as part of our role in the community, so I got to know him relatively well then,” he said. “And then he moved to the city of Grants Pass. We stole him, when I retired. He was our choice. He was our top choice. He was our only choice.”